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Anti-Semitic Word in Ad Is Man's Last Name, Not Intended as a Slur

By  Ben Fractenberg and Gwynne Hogan | July 1, 2015 8:17am 

 Fliers that included a seemingly anti-Semitic slur were plastered along Wyckoff Avenue near the Myrtle-Wyckoff subway station. The person who answered the phone at the number listed on the flier said that's how his last name is spelled,
Fliers that included a seemingly anti-Semitic slur were plastered along Wyckoff Avenue near the Myrtle-Wyckoff subway station. The person who answered the phone at the number listed on the flier said that's how his last name is spelled, "Kike."
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DNAinfo/Ben Fractenberg

BUSHWICK — Some Bushwick and Ridgewood residents were puzzled to find fliers plastered around the Myrtle-Wyckoff train station containing a seemingly anti-Semitic epithet.

The fliers, which were taped to lampposts along Wyckoff Avenue, had a two-dimensional picture of a house on the top and words "Apartment For Rent Call KIKE" beneath it.  

“I definitely noticed it,” said Susan Joyce, 36, who has lived in the neighborhood for four years. “It’s kind of odd.”

A man who answered the phone at the number listed on the flier — who spoke Spanish — explained that the word was indeed his last name (pronounced KEY-kay) and that he was unaware of the insult.

He added that he was simply advertising an apartment for rent and then hung up the phone before the reporter could ask another question.

That reasoning doesn’t fly with another resident, though. 

“Even if that is your name, in today’s society we know what the slurs are,” Chris Cabeza, 31, said.

Other residents said they have never encountered bigotry in the area before.

“I’ve lived in the neighborhood for four years and [I've] never heard of anything,” said resident Mathew Sharay, 33. “It’s a quiet [neighborhood.]”